2009 Statewide Recycling
Rate for Plastic Carryout Bags

The 2009 statewide recycling rate for regulated plastic
carryout bags is about 3 percent. During this reporting period,
regulated stores (defined
below) purchased about 53,000 tons of regulated plastic carryout
bags and collected just over 1,500 tons of these bags for
recycling. The recycling rate was calculated by dividing the
total amount of regulated bags collected for recycling by the
total amount purchased.

The recycling rate calculation is based on data from the
annual reports submitted by regulated stores as modified by the results of
the California State University at Sacramento’s “2010
Characterization Study to Determine the Plastic Carryout Bag
Commingled Recycling Rates” (CSUS Characterization Study,
Adobe PDF, 650 KB). Many
of the largest store chains declined to participate in the CSUS
Characterization Study, which limits the representativeness of
the data as well as the accuracy of the statewide recycling
rate.

California’s At-Store Recycling Program was established in
2006 by the passage of
AB 2449 (Levine, Chapter 845, Statutes of 2006). This law
applies to supermarkets (with gross annual sales of $2 million
or more and that sells a line of dry groceries, canned goods,
non-food items, or perishable goods) and other retail
establishments (that have over 10,000 square feet of retail
space that generate sales tax and have a licensed pharmacy),
that provide plastic carryout bags at the point of sale to
customers. The law requires regulated stores to establish a
plastic carryout bag recycling program. Other retail
establishments that do not fall under the law may also choose to
voluntarily participate in this statewide program.

In 2007, the California Integrated Waste Management Board
(now the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or
CalRecycle)
adopted regulations that require regulated store operators
to maintain records and submit annual reports to CalRecycle
about the collection, transportation, and recycling of regulated plastic
carryout bags. The regulations allow operators to report the weight of
plastic carryout bags recycled or the weight of the bags
commingled with other film plastic that is being recycled.
Further, the regulations require CalRecycle to develop and
publish a recycling rate for the commingled plastic film.

The remaining 2 percent either did not report recycling
or did not report the weight of bags purchased.

Table 1: Summary of Reported Collection Methods Used to
Collect and Recycle Plastic Carryout Bags and
the Weight of Bags Purchased

Collection
Methods

Number of Stores

Weight of
Plastic Bags
Purchased (tons)

Bags-Only

2,007

20,327

Commingled

3,207

28,881

Both Methods

239

2,949

Did Not Report Recycling

90

608

Total

5,543*

52,765*

*Note: Thirteen (13) stores did not report the weight of bags
purchased. Results may vary due to rounding.

To determine how much of the collected material sent to
recycling was regulated plastic carryout bags, CalRecycle staff
applied the adjustment factors established by the CSUS Characterization Study to the
reported amounts collected. The "bags-only" and "commingled"
collection methods each have their own adjustment factors as
established by the study. The CSUS Characterization Study found that:

Bags-only method: Of the 7,700 tons reported as
collected using this method, only 11 percent of this material were
regulated bags and about 89 percent were either
non-regulated bags or other plastic material and
contaminants.

Commingled method: Of the 11,410 tons reported as
collected using this method, about 6 percent of this material were regulated bags
and about 94 percent were either non-regulated bags or other plastic material and contaminants.

The 2009 statewide recycling rate for regulated plastic carryout bags was calculated by dividing the total amount of regulated
bags collected for recycling (1,520 tons)
by the total amount of regulated bags
purchased (52,765 tons). The resulting recycling rate is about 3 percent.

Not all store operators submitted annual reports despite
receiving multiple notices that reports were due. Therefore,
there are likely more regulated stores in California than
reported to CalRecycle. However, all of the large chain stores
and many smaller chain stores reported.

The regulations also allow a
designated reporting party to
submit a report on behalf of a store operator. While this makes
it easier for store operators to submit their reports, sometimes
both the store and a designated reporting party submitted a
report to CalRecycle. Also, some reports by designated reporting
parties included several operators but did not specify which
stores were included for which operator.

Many of the largest store chains declined to participate in
the CSUS Characterization Study, which limits the
representativeness of the data, as well as the overall accuracy of the
statewide recycling rate.

The following summary contains more detailed information than
presented above in Tables 1 and 2.

In this summary, store operators are grouped together by size
in order to differentiate their reporting results. The size of
an operator is determined by the number of stores represented in
their report. The number of stores illustrates differences
between operators due to their quantities of plastic carryout
bags purchased and recycled. Store operator categories are:

Small – One (1) reported store location.

Medium – Between two and ten (2-10) stores.

Large – Between 11-100 stores.

Extra Large – More than 100 stores.

Non-Responsive – Store operators with an unknown number of store locations due to lack of a store list within the
annual report.

Note: A number of annual reports did not include complete
information for all sections. Therefore the number of store
operators included in the analysis below varies as each analysis
only includes the number of stores that submitted complete
information.

Table 3 provides a summary of the total number of store
locations, within each size category, that reported purchasing regulated
plastic carryout bags for distribution.

Figure 1 depicts the percentage
distribution of stores from Table 3 by store operator category.
This figure does not include the non-responsive store operators
who have not submitted a list of store locations. The store
operators that comprise the extra-large category account for 82
percent of the total reported stores.

Table 4 is a summary of the methods used by
the 322 store operators
who reported to CalRecycle to collect and recycle or send for
recycling their regulated plastic carryout bags. Store operators that
used both bags-only and commingled methods to report their
recycling are identified as “both methods.”

Table 5 presents a breakdown of all plastic materials collected for recycling using the bags-only collection method.
The table provides a breakdown within the following three categories
based on the CSUS findings:

The results show that in 2009, of the 7,700 tons reported as
collected for recycling using the bags-only method, only 847
tons of regulated plastic carryout bags were collected.

Table 5: Net Weight of Material Collected for
Recycling Using the of Bags-Only Method

Material Collected

CSUSAdjustmentFactor(percent)

NetWeightCollected(tons)

Regulated Plastic Carryout Bags

11

847

Non-Regulated Bags

4.1

316

Other Plastic Material

84.9

6,537

Total

100

7,700*

*Note: Weight results may not total due to rounding.

Table 6 presents a breakdown of all plastic materials collected
for recycling using the commingled collection method. The table
provides a breakdown within the following five categories based
on the CSUS findings. Note: Data reported above in Table 2 as
Non-Regulated Bags is further broken down here as "Non-Regulated
Bags" and "Ineligible Bags." Similarly, data reported in Table 2
as Other Plastic Material is further broken down here as "Film
and Shrink Wrap" and "Other Plastic Material."